Amaker, Wright Earn College Insider Awards; Amaker Named Candidate for AP National Coach of the Year

Amaker led the Crimson to a 26-5 overall record in 2011-12 (Gil Talbot).

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard men's basketball head coach Tommy Amaker has been named the College Insider Ivy League Coach of the Year and was also recently selected as a candidate for Associated Press National Coach of the Year.

Senior forward Keith Wright, a two-time co-captain, was tabbed the Ivy League's Most Valuable Player by College Insider.

Amaker, who was also a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award (top minority coach in Division I men's basketball) and Hugh Durham Award (top mid-major coach in Division I college basketball), was honored as the United State Basketball Writers Association of America (USBWA) District I and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 13 Coach of the Year. Amaker, who completed his fifth season in Cambridge, led Harvard to a 26-5 overall record and a 12-2 mark in the Ivy League, as the Crimson won its second straight Ivy League title and earned the program's first NCAA tournament berth since 1946.

Amaker received two votes for AP Coach of the Year and was one of only 12 coaches in the country to be selected as a candidate for the coaching honor.

The Crimson earned the title at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas in November, defeating Utah, Florida State and Central Florida en route to the crown, and finished 11-1 overall at Lavietes Pavilion. Under Amaker's tutelage, Harvard also received the program's first national ranking in a major poll, climbing as high as No. 21 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 22 in the AP poll.

Wright, a native of Suffolk, Va., was selected to play in the NABC All-Star Game during the Final Four in New Orleans. Wright, who earned NABC All-District honors and All-Ivy League honors for the second straight season, led Harvard with 8.1 rebounds per game, while ranking second on the team with 10.4 points per contest.

Wright, who concluded his career first in Harvard history with 149 career blocks, shot 58.6 percent from the field and recorded five double-doubles during his senior season. Wright also ranks fifth in Crimson history with 743 career rebounds and 16th with 1,178 career points.